The next day he [John the baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! – John 1:29

“The minister today must learn the clear and well-defined conception of the message that he has to give. Like that of John the Baptist, the call is first to repentance, then the coming of the kingdom of Heaven, and above all, the exaltation of the person and the work of the coming King. Today in a generation unsure of the Bible and its teaching, the human soul requires a very sure and clear presentation of truth accompanied by duty. The preacher must point unerringly toward Jesus Christ the Lamb of God; all sermons that are absent of that are unconsecrated. Indeed, no sermon is worthy of the name that does not have an eye to the glory of Christ, for it is His person and work which must always have preeminence. Once this is established, then and only then will there be the appropriate homage of intellect and heart.” – Dr. Robert M. Norris (Leading a Ministry Without Miracles)

700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the prophecy came to Prophet Isaiah

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. …For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.” Isa 9:2-7

The Adoration of the Shepherds - Caravaggio 1573 – 1610

700 years later……In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1-26-37

“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

We are now in a midst of a frightening global financial storm in a scale never seen before , billions of dollars disappear as the stock market continue to slide downward. Suddenly, no one has absolute confidence in their banks anymore. When you could not trust your bank anymore, you suddenly demand politicians you don’t trust to provide guarantee to your banks . As believers, God’s word is clear we do not pursue and long after worldly things (Matt 6:18-19). We should fixing our eyes upon Jesus (Heb 12:2) and knowing that God will take care of us and we should not lose faith that He is in control of our lives, as the storm rages on and on, many personal fortunes including my own savings from years of frugal living and prudent investment evaporated into thin air, we often think within ourselves: Does Jesus Care?

In the Gospels, we have an account of another storm raging in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus asked his disciples to get into the boat, they obeyed Him and set sail to cross the lake. Jesus, weary from the day activities, left the disciples to themselves and rested at the stern of the vessel. Just then, the weather turned adversely and quickly into a “windstorm”: very strong winds and raging seas. The boat was swallowing up water and tossed from side to side and was in real danger of sinking, the disciples were hanging on to their dear lives as they fought the risk of drowning in this storm.

Mar 4:35-41
“On that day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.”

At that point, they looked to their leader for direction and when they saw Jesus sound asleep, they woke and questioned Him: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Mar 4: 38. RC Sproul commented, “Their question was not really a question. It was an accusation. The suggestion was thinly veiled. They were actually saying, “You don’t care if we drown”, they were charging the Son of God with a lack of compassion. This outrageous attack on Jesus is consistent with mankind’s customary attitude towards God. God has to listen to complaints like these from an ungrateful humanity every day. Heaven is bombarded with repeated charges of angry people. God is called “unloving” “cruel”, and “aloof”, as if He has not done enough to prove His compassion for us.” (page 51 – The Trauma of Holiness, The Holiness of God).

Was God not aware that the storm was raging and His disciples greatly feared for their lives ? Was God the Father also “aloof” and “unloving” thus did not ensure that His elect will be cushioned from the going through storm? “And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” We see our Lord Jesus woke up and merely told the wind: stop ! The “wind ceased” and the sea stopped raging and “there was a great calm” However Jesus appeared to be disappointed with the level of faith that His disciples had in Him: Where is your faith?

Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). It can be inferred that Jesus telling us through these verses : Do not look at the raging storm, have faith, turn and look at me ! I am in control. You are my sheep, I am the good Shepherd. I have already laid down my life for my sheep, I will take care of you. I am in control. Just let go and trust me fully.

Can we take comfort from Jesus’ miracle of calming the storm and His rebuke and heed His disciple , Peter’s exhortation: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:7. Does Jesus Care ?

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares.